Christmas Wrapping

In 1981, ZE Records asked each of its artists to record a Christmas song for a Christmas compilation album, A Christmas Record. According to songwriter Chris Butler, the Waitresses were in the middle of a difficult tour and the Christmas song commission was "the last thing we wanted".[3][4]

Butler wrote the song in August that year, assembling it from assorted unused riffs.[5] He finished the lyrics in a taxi cab on the way to the recording studio.[6] The lyrics came from Butler's hatred of Christmas: "Everybody I knew in New York was running around like a bunch of fiends. It wasn't about joy. It was something to cope with."[5] Bassist Tracy Wormworth was inspired by Bernard Edwards' bassline for "Good Times" by Chic, which had been recently released.[6]

Written while hip hop music was beginning to gain prominence, the song is "almost rapped" by vocalist Patty Donahue.[5] Its title, a pun on "rapping",[7] references the 1979 song "Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow.[8] Butler said he also "liked the idea of the word 'wrap,' like a wraparound, because the story is circular".[8]

The song is told from the perspective of a busy single woman adamant not to participate in the exhausting Christmas season. She has "turned down all [her] invites" and resolves to "miss this one this year". Earlier in the year, she met an appealing gentleman at a ski shop and got his number, but had no time to ask him on a date. Despite their attempts to meet in the following months, a succession of mishaps keeps them apart, from her having a debilitatingly painful sunburn to him having car trouble. On Christmas Eve, the woman is roasting "the world's smallest turkey" for herself when she realizes she has forgotten to buy cranberries. At a 24-hour grocery store, she runs into the "guy I've been chasing all year", who has also forgotten to buy cranberries, bringing her Christmas "to a very happy ending". In the final refrain, she admits that she "couldn't miss this one this year".[9]

"Christmas Wrapping" was released as a single in the UK in 1981 on Island Records. Although it did not make the charts that year, it was reissued in 1982 and reached No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1982.[10] During the 2016 holiday season, it re-entered the singles chart at number 96.[11] It remains the highest-charting Waitresses single in the UK.[11] It has been featured on numerous holiday music compilations including The Edge of Christmas, Dr. Demento's Holidays in Dementia, and Now That's What I Call Christmas!: The Signature Collection.[12]

Butler said that the reception was a rejuvenating gift for the band: "We do the Christmas song, forget about it and go back on the road. The next thing I know when calling back to New York is that it's all over the radio and much to our surprise it leaps over our heads and hits all the cities where we're heading and all of a sudden we're back on an upswing again."[3]

In 2005, Guardian arts journalist Dorian Lynskey called the song "fizzing, funky dance-around-the-Christmas-tree music for Brooklyn hipsters".[13] In 2012, Daily Telegraph writer Bernadette McNulty called it "one of the most charming, insouciant festive songs ever".[7] AllMusic reviewer Andy Hinds called it "one of the best holiday pop tunes ever recorded".[1] Each festive season, Butler makes a donation to the Akron-Summit County children's library in the name of the first person to tell him they heard "Christmas Wrapping" on the radio.[6]

"Christmas Wrapping" was covered by the British pop group Spice Girls as a B-side for their 1998 single "Goodbye", with lyrics altered to include a reference to British supermarket chain Tesco instead of the American chain A&P.[6] It has also been covered by Save Ferris (with lyrics altered for a Jewish perspective),[14] Kate Nash,[15] the Front Bottoms,[16] the Donnas,[17] Summer Camp,[17] the cast of the Broadway musical Wicked,[18] Miranda Cosgrove,[19] comedian Doug Benson,[20] Martha Wainwright,[21] the cast of the TV show Glee (with Heather Morris on lead vocals),[22] and Disney Channel star Bella Thorne.[23] British/Irish girl band the Saturdays covered the song for the film Get Santa.[24] Australian singer Kylie Minogue recorded the song for her 2015 album, Kylie Christmas.[25]

Sinkane, studying a Masters in composition, produced a cover for Christmas 2020. It featured Nancy Whang (LCD Soundsystem) singing lead, Nick Millhiser (Holy Ghost!) on drums and Money Mark (The Beastie Boys) on Moog.[26] Profits from this release went to The Food Bank for New York City.

• UK 7" Vinyl[27]

1. "Christmas Wrapping"  – 3:55
2. "Hangover 1/1/83"  – 4:30

• UK 12" Vinyl[28]

1. "Christmas Wrapping" (Long Version) – 5:23
2. "Hangover 1/1/83"  – 4:30

• CD Single[29]

1. "Christmas Wrapping" (Single Edit Version) – 3:55
2. "Christmas Wrapping" (Long Version) – 5:23
3. "Hangover 1/1/83"  – 4:30

• Patty Donahue – vocals
• Tracy Wormworth – bass, vocals
• Billy Ficca – drums
• Dan Klayman – keys
• Chris Butler – guitars, producer
• Mars Williams – sax, horn arrangements
• Dave Buck – trumpet
• Mike Firondelli – engineering

Credits and personnel adapted from "Christmas Wrapping" Vinyl liner notes.[27]

• The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping (single edit) on YouTube
• The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping (long version) on YouTube